Settler Songs (2004)
Duration: 11’
Two violins. Also available for violin and viola or two violas.
Movements:
Score excerpt
Premiere:
Jesse Irons and Sonya Chung, violins
Griswold Hall, Peabody Conservatory, Baltimore, MD
March 5, 2005
Performers in audio recording:
Jesse Irons and Sonya Chung, violins
Studio recording, Peabody Conservatory, Baltimore, MD
May 2005
Program Notes:
The inspiration and source material for this work comes directly from a small blue book titled (in Hebrew) Songs of the Land of Israel, published in Hebrew and German in Berlin in 1935. Its preface states that it presents, with thanks from the Conservatory of Tel Aviv, perhaps the first-ever musical transcriptions of the traditional, ancient songs of Jewish settlers and pioneers in the land of Israel (then called Palestine). Primarily, it features engravings of musical settings of various texts, some of which contain passing religious references, but most of which are entirely secular in nature. It also features an extended addendum with traditional and newly-composed nigunim, or “tunes,” wordless vocalises usually sung with the syllable “lai” or “loo” and meant to increase devotion and spirituality through singing outside of (or in the middle of) a religious service. I found these vocalises and settler songs, often with origins hundreds of years in the past, to be both fantastically beautiful and extremely musical, with a range of expression and an emotional immediacy easily felt and understood by members of all religions and nationalities. Therefore, I purposely avoided tampering too much with these original tunes in my settings, and tried to complement the original melodies with music that would bring out their wonderful emotions. I couldn’t, however, resist the urge to introduce some unusual performance techniques into the second violin’s accompaniment, including harmonics, glissandi, tremolo, and the requirement that the violin play multiple-stops using a guitar pick for a twangy, mandolin-like sound in the fifth movement.
This piece features my adaptations of five nigunim (the odd-numbered movements) and four songs (the even-numbered movements). I am extremely grateful to Jesse and Sonya, who took this music to their hearts and performed it with fire and passion.
— April 2005